If all has gone well, you’re now in Colorado Springs starting your first day of real work with Next Step Ministries, and while you’re likely busy trying to figure out where you’ll fit in or why everybody else seems to know what they’re doing, I thought I would write you a letter. I realize the last thing you need is a mission trip missive from your pastor, but I’ve got to write something for the Monday e-mail blast, so I figured the rest of the congregation could read my letter to you. This way I avoid having to write two letters; sometimes you can leverage laziness to your advantage.

I would tell you all the obvious stuff, like be careful, don’t be a jerk, remember to include others, be kind, feel free to ask good questions and don’t juggle chainsaws when they’re running; but you already know these things. What I want you to know is how your experience in Colorado Springs is not only meaningful to you, but it also means a great deal to the rest of the congregation at FPCLG. Yesterday, while you were enjoying the endless beauty that is Central Nebraska (emphasis on endless), about 100 people in worship prayed for you; remember that if at any time you’re feeling alone. Yes, many of the people don’t even know all your names, but their hope isn’t any less sincere. They watch a lot of news and have some sense of how difficult life is for high school kids these days. You are at a point in your lives where there are influences, attitudes and choices that can end up making life unnecessarily more difficult. Some of these people know because they made those choices and spent a big chunk of their lives working to undo the consequences. (Confidentiality prevents me from going into detail, but believe me—some of our members were real boneheads when they were young.)

We’ve sent you over 1,000 miles away hoping to provide some experiences where you can have a great time and consider deeper dimensions of life without the distractions and clutter of home. I don’t know what you will take from this time together, but I anticipate you will have a chance to reflect on the power of cooperation, the importance of inclusion, the impact of kindness and the way God’s Spirit can turn unexpected events into great opportunity.

We know from previous mission trips that some of the memories you make will last a lifetime. But more than memories, I hope you will recall the things that made those memories possible, and so create new opportunities for community and grace. We need you to come back safe and without a need to submit damage reports on the rental vans. We also need you to come back and let us know how we did. Were our prayers answered? Did you discover some new skills or strengths? Did you find new ways to be the church in a difficult world? In the beauty, in community, in service, in celebration, did you catch a glimpse of God? Did you find ways to show your love for God by neighboring someone in need?

We’re asking because we love you. We want to know how we are doing in letting you know we love you. We want to learn from you how to be better people—a more faithful church.

We realize some of our questions won’t be answered until you are much older. We’ll be retired; some of us will be in heaven. But even then, you can provide a resounding answer to our questions by telling the next generation to raise the funds, pack the vans and discover the presence of God’s Spirit when they’re on mission.

Trying to keep your parents out of trouble while you’re away, I remain,

Following the attack on mosques in Christchurch New Zealand, I wrote a letter of solidarity to the Administrative Assistant and congregation of the Orland Park Prayer Center. FPPLC’s confirmation class received a gracious welcome and tour of the facility and were given the opportunity to observe Asr, afternoon daily prayer, of the community. The following is an open letter to the Administrator and congregation.

I grew up among people who held a paradoxical relationship with Jews. On the one hand, most of the adult men in my childhood congregation were veterans of World War II, and many found great meaning for their service in the liberation of the Jewish people from the brutal tyranny of anti-Semitic Nazism. On the other hand, because the Jews had rejected Jesus, we were confident they were going to hell. There was also a third hand that colored our understanding of Jewish-Christian relations, and that was a reading of Biblical prophecy that insisted the formation of the nation of Israel was a prerequisite for the second coming of Jesus, something we were weekly enjoined to hasten.

As we approach the season of Lent, it is important to note that the day before Ash Wednesday in much of the world is known as Fat Tuesday, owing to the historic tradition of not eating fats and sugars during the season of penance. While the celebration known as Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, is a ten-month tourist celebration in New Orleans, in many countries the days of Carnival begin the Thursday before Lent and culminate on Tuesday, the eve of Ash Wednesday.

As Pope Francis gathers with Roman Catholic bishops in the Vatican this week in a summit designed to address clergy sexual abuse of minors, I have had several conversations with individuals suggesting that the Catholics have a big problem. While I hope the magisterium experiences some breakthroughs in discipline and oversight through an event largely organized by Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich, it would be a serious mistake to suggest this is somehow an issue confined to the ranks of Roman Rite clergy.

Clergy sexual abuse of minors is not a problem that will be resolved by permitting priests the stability of marriage. To be sure, the recent revelations of the Southern Baptist Convention regarding their own clergy…

In 1968, the United States 90th Congress passed H.R. 15951 An Act to provide for uniform annual observances of certain legal public holidays on Mondays, and for other purposes, usually abbreviated as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The original bill stipulated that several holidays be moved to Mondays, but the one commemorating Washington’s birthday remain fixed on the 22nd of February, a date set as a federal holiday by President Rutherford B. Hayes. However, Illinois House Representative and Judiciary Committee member Robert McClory of Lake Bluff had lost his bid to make Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, a federal holiday. The amendment failed in committee due to staunch opposition by the Virginia delegation. In response to his amendment’s defeat, McClory successfully amended the

It’s been a few months now since our Sanctuary Choir Director, Jason Fahrenbach, expanded his repertoire to include leadership of our Praise and Worship Team and became FPCLG’s Director of Music Ministry. The response from both the musicians and the Community Service attendees has been enthusiastically positive, and to my knowledge, the Sanctuary Choir has not felt older child neglect in the transition. To my ear the music in both services is beyond magnificent; we are blessed with many gifted volunteers and professionals who inspire our voices and hearts in divine worship.

There are now two of us who weekly experience both Sunday morning services

This coming Saturday will be our second annual Confirmation Rally, where we invite Confirmation-aged young people from the greater La Grange community to celebrate our common faith and our unity in Christ. There will be snacks, music, conversation, dinner, games and a few special guests. We hope to link our young people in the knowledge that they are members of a church fellowship that extends well beyond the walls of FPCLG, a common faith, a common heritage, a body of Christ with many expressions of tradition, doctrine and practice. In the same way that we do not baptize our children as Presbyterians, we do not confirm our young people as Presbyterians, but in both rites we announce their covenant relationship with Christians,

As the snow accumulates on our back deck, I’m musing how snowstorms have this amazing quality of timelessness. While we are taught that no two snowflakes are alike, snowstorms, in my memory, are all aligned as one big contiguous accumulation of white wonder. Briefly, I suspend all knowledge of snow’s intrusion into my routine, the repetitious weight of the shovel, the crunchy scraping of a windshield, spinning tires rocking from a drift, and I am lost in the anticipation of flapping arms of an angel, the careful engineering of a fort, red runners cutting into the side of a great hill.

The following remarks were delivered by The Reverend Jonathan Krogh, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of La Grange, IL for the 2019 Dr. Martin Luther King Day prayer breakfast held on January 21, 10 AM, sponsored by the Caring Place for Kids, Lincoln & Washington Streets, La Grange, Illinois.

In preparation for this morning’s remarks I read the following words in a December 26 New Yorker article by Eliza Griswold entitled “Evangelicals of Color Fight Back Against the Religious Right.” Quoting social activist Sharon Harper: “The whole Bible and evangelical faith, along with Protestant faith and Catholic faith, has all been interpreted through the lens of empire. All of it. All of it has been interpreted through the lens of Caesar. And Caesar killed Jesus. And Jesus was an indigenous, brown, colonized man.”

I’m musing this Monday morning about money. My Friday ended like an old joke: “An accountant, a treasurer and a Presbyterian minister walk into an office...,” except it wasn’t a joke; we were talking about FPCLG’s 2019 budget. You’ll see everything in mind-numbing detail in the Annual Report distributed at the end of February, but in the meantime, I thought you would like some highlights.